A New York federal district court has ruled that a former unpaid intern for Phoenix Satellite Television US, Inc., cannot bring a sexual harassment claim under the New York City Human Rights Law, because the lack of compensation renders her unable to meet the requirement of employee status under the statute. Judge P. Kevin Castel issued the ruling in Lihuan …
Thanks to a developing line of administrative appeal decisions, workers in New York State who resign their jobs due to bullying and employer abuse could still retain eligibility for unemployment benefits. Under New York State labor law, workers who voluntarily resign without good cause are presumptively ineligible to receive unemployment benefits. Most other states follow a …
Workplace bullying targets winning unemployment benefits appeals in New York State Read More »
Early this morning, fast food workers in New York, St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo. launched strikes demanding both a wage increase to $15 an hour—from a median of $8.94—and the right to form unions without employer interference. Later this week, workers in Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit and Flint, Mich., will also go out on strike, …
Back when my workplace nightmare first began in 1992, during an 11-year tenure at New York City Transit that ended in termination on the heels of a hard-fought federal court victory, there was no such thing as “workplace bullying”. Bullying – or at least the term – was reserved for what one mean-spirited kid did …
Workplace Bullying vs. Workplace Harassment: Is There a Difference? Read More »
New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s refusal to allow a paid sick leave bill to come to a vote—though it has the support of a strong majority of the city council—resurfaced in the news this week when feminist icon Gloria Steinem said she would withdraw her support from Quinn if Quinn continues to block …
Opposition to paid sick leave costs Christine Quinn some high-profile support Read More »
It’s difficult to imagine anything more basic to a free economy than the right of an employee to be paid for his or her work. Yet this fundamental right is violated in New York’s low-wage industries as a matter of routine. Research from the National Employment Law Project concludes that a fifth of the city’s …
Talk to a working New Yorker, and the odds are one in four that she belongs to a union. That’s a rate of union membership more than twice as high as the country as a whole, note CUNY professor Ruth Milkman and graduate student Laura Braslow in their new study, “The State of the Unions: …
Why the State of New York’s Unions Should Concern Us All Read More »
Caregivers, nannies and housekeepers are celebrating across New York State today. Yesterday morning, New York Gov. David Paterson (D) signed into law the first-ever law in the nation that upholds domestic workers’ rights. Domestic Workers United (DWU) estimates there are 200,000 domestic workers in New York City alone. Most are female immigrant workers. The new …
Griping about Albany is always in style: pundits denounce late budgets, lax ethics rules, and special interest shenanigans. And they’ve got a point. But in the end-of-session frenzy, state legislators are also taking far more positive action: raising workplace standards for some of the state’s most exploited workers, many of whom (no surprise) live and …
Hooray for Albany? Legislature Acts to Boost Working People and the Economy Read More »
Domestic workers in New York have won historic changes to the state’s labor law to include protections for their jobs. Final votes on Thursday ended weeks of wrangling between state Assembly and Senate leaders and Governor David Paterson, who said he would sign the bill. The law guarantees domestic workers time-and-half pay for more than …
Domestic Workers in New York Win First-Ever Job Protections Read More »
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
